The University of Minnesota Cancer Center (UMCC) is a NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated to cancer research, education, and patient care for the citizens of the state of Minnesota and surrounding region. Since the time of the first award in 1997, there has been tremendous growth of the membership and research base. In 2007 we have 225 members with nationally peer-reviewed support totaling over $95 million. This compares to 151 members and $70 million in 2002 and 98 members and $39 million in 1997. Thus, in 10 years, the UMCC has more than doubled our membership and peer-reviewed research base. The mission of UMCC is: to create a collaborative environment that advances knowledge about the causes, prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer; to apply that knowledge to caring for our patients; and to share our discoveries with other scientists, students, professionals, and the community. To achieve these goals the Cancer Center membership is organized into seven programs: Prevention and Etiology, Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention, Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer, Tumor Biology and Progression, Immunology, Women's Cancer, and Transplant Biology and Therapy. Ten shared resources support this research. During the last period of support, a new UMCC Director was named and changes in the administrative structure were created to facilitate the research of its members, to foster multidisciplinary approaches to cancer, to provide infrastructure support for the conduct of cancer research, and to lead in the creation of new methods and strategies to reduce cancer incidence and mortality. The Academic Health Center and the University of Minnesota acknowledge the UMCC as an exceptionally successful matrix organization in a large public research university, and are pledged to work aggressively to help it achieve its goals.